Reminisce & Rush
by Mitsukaii
Summary: Just shut up and listen.


**foreword. **

**I**t was all common sense, really, dear reader.

It was a feeling not to be compared to butterflies. Butterflies were delicate creatures, and this rushing phenomenon of emotion was not delicate in any way whatsoever. However, if you do wish to identify this feeling with a bug or parasite, let me introduce to you the leech. The horrid little worm feeds on energy. It drains. It devours.

But it can also heal.

This most peculiar feeling was settling deep within his gut. He could not shake it nor ignore it. He could not forget about it nor fix it. It was like a conscience—nagging, nagging, nagging. Nagging him until he stopped to listen and realize what he had done wrong… or what he hadn't done right. Regardless, this particular afternoon, it was not a case of right or wrong. It was a case of direction. He'd been to everywhere at least twice, but there was a place he hadn't been to quite enough.

The leech within Sora was quite overjoyed when he entered the Secret Place, if I may say so myself.

Now, my kind reader, this is where I stop, and where you rush, to reminisc**e**.

-**x  
**Reminisce & Rush  
-**x**

**H**is eyelids lowered at half-mast, slightly hooding his salty-sweet ocean irises. He had to amble to the farthest corner of the Secret Place in order to make the disturbing sensation in his stomach disappear. He was so engrossed and caught up with ridding himself of the feeling, he didn't even notice that someone had beaten him to—what he thought—was _his own_ destination.

His large shoe bumped against something, or rather, someone, below him.

"_Ouch_! Sora, what was _that_ for?" A redhead stood up from her sitting position, dusting off her pink skirt. She eyed him spitefully before her face shifted into a calmer expression.

"Kairi." The brown-haired male stared inquisitively at one of his long-time playmates. The apology for kicking her remained jammed in his throat, completely unsaid and soon forgotten. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you _mean_? I'm always here. But _you_—you're the one who never comes here anymore." Kairi shook her head, yet a smile managed to tug at her lips. She shrugged the matter off. Taking Sora's hand in hers, she pulled him closer to the chalky picture they had drawn together when they were younger. It had slightly faded after all the years that had passed. But it was still there. Miniature Kairi and Sora, offering each other a paopu fruit.

"All right, what?" Sora questioned her, averting his sight from the picture. His eyes swerved to Kairi, just in time for him to see her pout.

"… What does this drawing tell you, Sora?"

"That I'm a bad artist." And that was that. The subject was obviously a touchy one for the brunet. Sora pulled Kairi in the opposite direction, towards the exit of the Secret Place. Stumbling behind him, Kairi's face was awash in slight dejection and disappointment. But it definitely wasn't a shocker when, once again, Sora displayed his obviously oblivious demeanor.

The two friends emerged from the Secret Place, and the leaves nestled above the opening brushed against their faces and hair. The midday sunlight stroked their faces, warming their cheeks, greeting them a fine evening. After they passed the mist spraying from a nearby waterfall, walked down the steps and onto the sand, Kairi let go of Sora's fingers and stopped him.

"The three of us used to race along this shore all the time, remember?" Kairi tilted her head to the side, her eyes slowly moving left and right, admiring the shoreline. The waves churned, pulling back and rolling forward, curdling tiny seashells and foaming up like light whipped cream. She felt Sora's hand at her shoulder.

Sora laughed, for the first time since their encounter. "Oh, I definitely remember. _You_ always reached the end last, slowpoke."

"Oh, _really_?" Kairi challenged, her voice introducing a mischievous tone. She giggled, shrugging Sora's fingers off her shoulder and dashing towards the shack, her cranberry hair flailing behind her. "_Race you to the paopu tree_!"

A grin was plastered onto Kairi's face the whole while, her heartbeats increasing in speed at the thought of finally beating Sora in a race. She threw open the shack's door, clattered up the old, beat-up wooden steps, and hastily pushed forward the door at the top of the stairs. As she sped across the bridge, her breathing grew shallow, not because she was tired, but purely because of the fun she was having with Sora…

… the fun that they had _both_ missed out on, for years now.

Kairi pushed her hair out of her periwinkle eyes as she reached the paopu tree, feeling obligated to slap a hand on its bark as if it were a tag on home base. Unfortunately, Sora was already waiting for her, facing the ocean, his back resting against the awkward shape of the paopu tree's trunk. He beamed at Kairi, casually lifting his arms up and resting his hands behind his head.

"It's faster to _jump_ on the shack's roof, Kairi, not run _into_ it."

"Well, forgive me for lacking your special jumping abilities, Mister Keyblade Master."

"I forgive you—Miss Pure Hearted Princess."

"Ha," Kairi replied huffily, slightly out of breath as she moved herself to Sora's side and leaned against the paopu tree. The couple exchanged glances, before the ocean and tropical tangerine sky captivated their gazes. They filled their lungs with the bittersweet island air and listened to the waves slap against bottom of the sandy protrusion they currently stood on. Sora allowed Kairi to link her right arm in his left, and tried not to smile too widely when she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Red sky in the night…" As she began the old saying, Kairi's voice barely gravitated toward Sora, though her lips weren't too far from his ear, "Sailors' delight."

"Mm," Sora replied simply, unlinking his arm from Kairi's and bringing it around her petite waist. "A day like this… would have been a good day to ride the raft."

"… There's no need for a raft anymore," the princess whispered, squeezing her eyes shut, afraid of what she might say if she raised her voice. Those two previous adventures were enough, right? They already achieved what they had wanted, _right_? Kairi doubted her ability of sensing the right and the wrong, so she maintained her light speech. "It's—it's already been half a decade since _that_… Sora."

"Yeah," Sora admitted. His teeth sank into his bottom lip. "Five years… I mean, not that I'm _counting_ or anything, it's just…" He _was_ counting. Kairi could tell, and Sora knew Kairi could tell. He was counting the years, the months, the weeks, the days… and the _hours_ and the _minutes_ and the _seconds_ of free time he had—until their lives would, once again, be interjected.

Sora swallowed hard. "Kairi… did I ever thank you? For waiting? For having forgotten me, and _still_ waiting? It meant so much, it _means_ so much… we—we had to grow up faster than other teenagers had to, didn't we? We had to hear things we weren't ready to hear, and see things we had _never_ thought we would _ever_ see…"

"_We_ helped each other through those times," Kairi reminded him, lifting her head and meeting his eyes. "_We_ had to grow up quicker, but we grew up_ together_. We weren't ready for _anything_, but look how we ended up. We're not _that_ screwed up. We still take care of each other, and support each other, and we're _still_ maturing together, and—"

Kairi stopped herself. Sora looked at her expectantly, unknown to how much more his companion felt the desire to say. "And—?"

"And, Sora, will you marry me?"

Sora stood there, unblinking and his expression blank. The only movement he made was to detach himself from Kairi and step back to examine her, to see if she was _sane_. Kairi's last four words had hit him like a splintered iceberg—sharp and cold and shocking, all in one package. The strangest thing was, while that load of ice hit him, he was melting in gooey lava at the same time.

_Did Kairi just propose to me?_

Kairi clasped her hands in front of her, squeezing her fingers. She kept her eyes focused on Sora. Her expression was sincere. It wasn't a joke, it wasn't a prank, it wasn't being recorded, and April was long gone. She had asked him a _real_ question, and she wanted a _real_ answer.

Because _this_ was _real_… wasn't it?

Sora rubbed his forehead with a gloved hand, expelling a breath. "N-no, Kairi. Sorry, I can't. I can't marry you. You, of all people, should know why. I have my responsibilities…"

Kairi wasn't going to back down anytime soon. She stood her ground. "You're the Keyblade master, _not_ a _priest_, Sora! It's all right to be in love! It's all right to _be_ with people, really _be_ with people."

"I do have feelings for you, Kairi. I care about you more than you'll _ever_ know. More than _anyone_ will know. More than _I_ will know, myself. Kairi, we… I can't do this. I haven't even responded to the King's message yet… I know they _need_ me out there. I can't keep putting it off and putting it off. One day, there's going to be call that I _have_ to answer, and I'm going to leave. I really will. I'll leave everything behind all over again, because _everyone_'s at risk if I don't."

"None of that matters, Sora!"

"How can you say that? _None_ of it _matters_?"

"Not at this very moment, no, it doesn't! Just, shut up and listen," Kairi snapped, expressing how hurt she was, emphasizing how true it was that she wanted him. "No matter _where_ you go, or _what_ you do, I'm _going_ to be there. Any adventure, any journey, any hardship…"

Sora cast his eyes to the grains of dirt and sand beneath him. "No, Kairi. This is _my_ battle. _My_ hardships. I have to overcome it—I always have to go back and _fix_ everything! All this danger is linked to me, my Keyblade. If you're there with me, Darkness will go after you, too, just like it did last time. Do you _want_ to be imprisoned inside a cell again? This is my job. To protect people. _This_ is _my_ duty. Kairi… _I'm_ the Keyblade master, and _I'm _the one who needs to fight."

Did he really have to use harsh words in order to prove his point? He forced himself to look up, expecting Kairi to be in tears, expecting Kairi to hate him for saying such things, expecting her to reach out and slap him hard in the face. But Sora was wrong. Kairi appeared to be on the _verge_ of tears, but not quite there yet. Sora started to turn away. As he did, through a sideward glance, he saw a bright light suddenly appear and disappear as quickly as it came.

His ears perked slightly. The Keyblade instantly appeared in his fingers, and he whirled around just in time for his weapon to clash against another weapon. Kairi twisted her Keyblade over Sora's with a _shiing_, pushing down and weakening Sora's grip on the handle. Sora's arm faltered as he was overwhelmed with the surprise attack, and Kairi took that moment to carve an inch-long, skinny gash against the side of Sora's forearm.

"You're not the only one who can fight," Kairi retaliated, her voice cracking as she drew back and let her gold and magenta weapon disappear. She turned and walked off. Sora did not watch her with his eyes, nor did he follow her. A piece of his heart fell off and plopped onto the sand.

Sora held his arm. It didn't hurt. The pain barely announced itself. But that stupid leech was back in his stomach again. Engulfing his insides. Feeding on his misery. Mocking at his failure to be "Kairi's perfect partner." _Saving worlds_… was that really his top priority? Was he really only saving other peoples' hearts, and neglecting his own? _It's all right to be in love… None of that matters…_

Kairi's words tolled through his head like a church bell. The Keyblade dissolved from Sora's hand in a spurt of twinkles. He didn't bother casting Curaga, and he certainly wasn't going to launch into battle with Kairi. Kairi, the girl who was often underestimated. Kairi, the girl who was frequently unappreciated. Kairi, the one who possessed a stronger will than he did.

Kairi, the one who needed to understand.

Or maybe, this time, it was Sora who needed to understand. _You're not the only one who can fight…_

"I… love her," Sora whispered. His tone grew louder, raising a decibel, and he was soon yelling at the shifting ocean in front of him. "I _love_ her! I can't let her go like this. I won't lose her again, not _this_ time. Not ever. I _want_ to marry her!" Sora figured he shouldn't waste time talking to himself. He needed to find Kairi, quick. She was probably halfway home by now, rowing, but he'd be able to catch—

He whipped around, his numb hands resting on the arch of the paopu tree's bent trunk, ready to jump.

He stopped himself.

And held his breath.

"…"

_She_ was still there, her fists resting at her hips, weight shifted to one leg. The usual confident smirk played at her lips. She had been standing behind him all along. She had been waiting for him, all along. She would always wait for him, no matter what. She was too faithful for her own good. It was her job. It was her duty. And _that_ was _her_ battle.

Her battle for Sora.

Kairi smiled the smile that never failed to captivate the Keyblade master.

"What took you so long, lazy bu**m**?"


End file.
